Dental cleaners



INVENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent O DENTAL CLEANERS Margaret EE.Fleming, Niagara Falls, N.Y., assignor to John Stuart Fleming, NiagaraFalls, N .Y.

Application \ctober 1, 1956, Serial No. 613,247 1 Claim. (c1. 132-9'3)The invention relates to dental cleaners for dislodging food particlesfrom between adjacent teeth. 'This application is related to theapplication Serial Number 559,071, filed January 13, 1956, for DentalCleaners.

An object of the invention is to provide a dental cleaner consisting ofa strip of thin flexible paper having a supercial thin coating of waterrepellant reinforcing material upon both sides thereof, said striphaving opposite parallel cushioned soft edges extending along it asborders, each of said soft edges being beveled and having the pulp ofsaid paper exposed upon one side thereof and having said coating uponits non-beveled side supporting said soft edge against undue verticalyielding during movement of said strip between adjacent teeth, thebeveled side of one of said soft edges being located upon one side ofsaid strip, the beveled side of the opposite soft edge being locatedupon the opposite side of said strip.

Another object is to provide said strip with a plurality of weakenedtear lines indented in said coating, dening minor dental cleaner stripsadapted to be torn from the major strip along said indented tear lines,the indentation of the tear lines in said coating facilitating anaccurate tear along said lines.

Other objects and advantages will appear hereinafter or will be obvious.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combinations ofparts as hereinafter set forth in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a plan view of the major strip before being divided by thetear lines into minor strips.

Figure la is an edge view of the same.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, showing the weakened tear lines.

Figure 2a is an edge view of the same.

Figure 3 is a section on a much enlarged scale of a fragment of thepaper having the opposite soft edges.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the same.

In the drawings, 1 designates the dental cleaner, consisting of a majorstrip 1 of thin flexible paper having a thin superficial coating 2 ofwater repellant reinforcing material upon both sides thereof, said striphaving opposite parallel cushioned soft edges 3 extending along it asborders, each of said soft edges being beveled and having the pulp ofsaid paper exposed upon one side 4 thereof and having said coating uponits non-beveled side supporting said soft edge against undue verticalyielding during movementvof said strip between adjacent teeth, thebeveled side of one of said soft edges being located upon one side ofsaid strip, the beveled side of the opposite soft edge being locatedupon the opposite side of said strip, as shown in Fig. 3, each soft edgebeing protected by the related coating.

A strip of thin exible paper is capable of being torn from a major stripof said paper along scored or indented 2,896,639 Patented `liuly 28,1959 rice weakened tear lines of said major strip to provide the tornstrip with a cushioned soft edge extending along it as a border, but thetear tends to depart from the tear line. The indentation of theweakened. tear line in said coating 2 reduces this tendency andfacilitates making an accurate tear along the weakened line.

Said major strip 1 is provided with a plurality of weakened tear lines 5indented in said coating 2, defining minor dental cleaner strips 6,adapted to be torn from said major strip along said lines 5, saidindentation facilitating making an accurate tear along the weakenedline.

The superficial thin coating 2 of water repellant reinforcing materialsuch for example as a silicone or a wax may be applied to said paper inany suitable manner. Said coating 2 has substantially no penetration inthe paper. Said exible paper may be sized to close its pores, it may becalendered between calender rolls to make it smooth and compact, and itmay be of long ber to increase its tensile strength. Said coated papermust be thin enough to enable said strip to be movable between adjacentteeth. Said coating 2 is such as to not greatly increase the thicknessof said paper, nor to prejudice the softness of said edge 3, nor toprejudice the iiexibility of said strip in dental cleaner use. Said softedge being weak without said coating requires said coating to support itagainst undue yielding in dental cleaner use. As shown, the beveled side4 of one soft edge is located upon one side of said strip 3, the beveledside of the opposite soft edge being located upon the other side of saidstrip, so that for this purpose said strip needs said coating 2 uponboth sides thereof to provide said coating upon the non-beveled side ofeach of its opposite soft edges. The location of the beveled side of thesoft edge 3 upon one or the other side of said strip depends upon themanner in which said strip is torn along the weakened tear line.

The right is reserved to modifications coming within the scope of theclaim.

I claim:

A dental cleaner, consisting of a major strip of thin flexible paperhaving a superficial thin coating of water repellant reinforcingmaterial upon both sides thereof, said strip having opposite parallelcushioned soft edges extending along it as borders, each of said softedges being beveled and having the pulp of said paper exposed upon oneside thereof and having said coating upon its non-beveled sidesupporting said soft edge against undue vertical yielding duringmovement of said strip between adjacent teeth, the beveled side of oneof said soft edges being located upon one side of said strip, thebeveled side of the opposite soft edge being located upon the oppositeside of said strip, said major strip being provided with a plurality ofweakened tear lines indented in said coating defining minor dentalcleaner strips adapted to be torn from said major strip along saidindented tear lines, the identation of said tear lines in said coatingfacilitating an accurate tear along said lines.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSFleming Nov. 27, 1956

